Michael David Smith ,
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It was the wildest game of this NFL season.
The Bears and Bengals treated fans to a back-and-forth battle that featured eight lead changes, and three touchdowns and a successful onside kick in the final two minutes, with the Bears ultimately winning 47-42.
The fireworks started with the opening kickoff, which Cincinnati’s Charlie Jones returned for a touchdown, and never ended.
Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco finished with a career-high 470 passing yards, but that wasn’t enough.
First-year Chicago head coach Ben Johnson got the best all-around performance from his offense to date, with Caleb Williams throwing for 280 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, and Kyle Monangai running for 176 yards. Late in the fourth quarter, when D.J. Moore ran for a 17-yard touchdown to give the Bears a 41-27 lead, it appeared to be over.
But Flacco threw a touchdown pass to Noah Fant with 1:43 remaining, then hit Tee Higgins in the end zone for the two-point conversion, to bring the Bengals to within 41-35. The Bengals then recovered an onside kick and Flacco got right back to work, marching the Bengals down the field and hitting Andrei Iosivas for a nine-yard touchdown. The extra point made it 42-41, Bengals.
And then Williams marched the Bears down the field and hit Colston Loveland for a 58-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left. After that Flacco’s last-gasp desperation pass was intercepted, and the Bears held on.
At 5-3, the Bears are right in the thick of the NFC North race after the Packers and Lions both lost today. If they’re in the playoffs in two months, this game will be remembered as a big reason why.
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